Dark of Night
by Cassandra Mulder
Summary: Sydney and Vaughn find each other again in a Hong Kong safehouse.


Title: Dark of Night  
  
Author: Cassandra Mulder  
  
Feedback: Here or cassandra_mulder@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Classification: Alias; Syd/Vaughn; drama; angst  
  
Written: August 19 - 21, 2003  
  
Spoilers: "The Telling", the last five minutes of season 2.  
  
Disclaimer: "Alias" and the characters within do not belong to me. They are the property of JJ Abrams, Bad Robot Productions, and ABC. No infringement is intended.  
  
Summary: Sydney and Vaughn find each other again in a Hong Kong safehouse.  
  
Archive: Anywhere, please just ask my permission first.  
  
Archive: Bound http://www.geocities.com/cassandra_mulder  
  
A/N: I write short fics, and I cannot lie... LOL Welcome again to my ficlet world. With the third season of Alias coming up, I got to thinking about the season finale again, and what would've happened at the safehouse after Vaughn's earth shattering revelation. This is my angsty version, as if it could be anything but...  
  
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Sydney huddled between the scratchy sheets stretched across the hard mattress of the safehouse bed. Vaughn had left less than an hour ago, and since then she'd been through every emotion humanly possible and then some, it seemed.  
  
As soon as she'd locked the door behind him, she'd crumpled onto the bed, letting the tears she'd valiantly held back in his presence fall.  
  
She alternated between tears and stunned silence for what felt like an eternity. He'd told her everyone had thought she was dead, though obviously they never found any hard evidence. He'd gotten married; said she didn't know her. It wasn't Alice, as if that was any consolation.  
  
She didn't know why he'd married so quickly, and he hadn't seemed able to come up with an excuse worth telling her. Maybe he couldn't figure it out anymore than she could, but she certainly was confused as to how she could disappear without a trace and he could just move on. She was sure she'd never be able to do the same. Not after what they'd had. Not when she loved him so much.  
  
That love and his inadvertant betrayal welled up inside of her chest, threatening to smother her with the pain of it.  
  
Sydney was missing two years of her life, the man she loved, and her best friend, all in what seemed like a span of ten minutes. There was nothing, not one precious second, between her fight with the woman who looked like Francie and waking up in a Hong Kong alley.  
  
It was far too much to comprehend at once, and the more she wished for sleep so she could just forget, the more it eluded her. She couldn't forget she was alone, with only the chaos in her head to keep her company; the steadily whirring thoughts to slowly drive her mad.  
  
She'd done everything but beg Vaughn to stay. Her greatest fear right now was being alone, no matter how married he was. But even though he hadn't said it, she knew that was why he'd left. He didn't want it getting back to his wife he'd spent the night in a safehouse with his former girlfriend, she thought bitterly.  
  
He told her her father was on an airplane that would reach Hong Kong by morning, but it was only one a.m. At least she'd have him. He wouldn't leave her. Or had he changed too?  
  
She wiped her eyes angrily, wanting to scream at the injustice of it all. She was going to find out what had happened to her, who had done this, and they were going to pay dearly. Of that she was certain. Someone was responsible and had to be held accountable for ruining her life, and if Sloane was still out there and behind it, she would make him sorry.  
  
He'd seen what she could do, but he'd hardly seen the worst of it.  
  
Sydney couldn't seem to stop crying as she lay there, remembering the security of Vaughn's arms around her when he'd walked through the door. The security she'd so quickly lost.  
  
There was a knock on the door, and she quickly jumped from the bed to look through the peephole.  
  
Vaughn stood outside the door, looking almost as tortured as she felt. How was she supposed to survive this?  
  
She let him in without a word, and he let the packages in his arms fall to the floor as he reached for her again. She clung to him tightly, for he was the only thing in this world she knew. As her sobs came harder than ever, he held her close, stroking her hair and trying to speak through his own tears.  
  
"I... brought you some clothes... Some other things you might need..."  
  
Sydney pulled back, only slightly, a hand on the side of his face as she gently kissed his cheek, wanting so much more but knowing that to take it would only eat further at his conscience.  
  
She fleetingly thought she should want to hurt him for marrying someone else, but she couldn't bring herself to hate or harm him. She still loved him, and not even his promise to another could stop that.  
  
"Thank you, Vaughn," she whispered, as she looked into his troubled green eyes.  
  
He bowed his head. "You shouldn't be thanking me for any-"  
  
Sydney cut his words off with her fingers and a shake of her head. Then she drew him back into a tight embrace, knowing she would need to absorb his strength and his warmth if she was to face the coming days. All she knew was that she couldn't do it alone.  
  
"Will you stay with me, Vaughn?" she asked the wall just behind his head. When he didn't answer immediately, she stepped back to look at him, aware of the warring emotions in his eyes.  
  
"I'm not asking anything of you but to stay here. I don't want to be by myself."  
  
Vaughn simply nodded his head, and she knew he was as scared as she was.  
  
Breaking their embrace, she clutched his hand and led him over to the bed. Sitting down, she urged him to do the same, and saw his uncertainty as he did so.  
  
"If you could just hold me, I think I might be able to sleep," she told him honestly. She knew she was asking more than he might be able to give, but she couldn't help it this one time.  
  
His only response was to draw her into his arms, as she closed her eyes, desperately trying to memorize the feel, the scent of him, the beating of his heart, and the rise and fall of his breathing as he held her close.  
  
She knew as dark as this night had been, that after tomorrow there'd be darker nights to come.  
  
Finis 


End file.
